Quest through Middle Zealand - Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Abel Tasman Coast Track, Hooker Valley Trail

Every self respecting geek is supposed to perform at least once in their lifetime a holy pilgrimage to the land of hobbits, elves and orcs. While at it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do some hiking as well. Our very own fellowship (retkue in Finnish) ventured through couple of designated hikes in New Zealand while trying to soak it all in from both north and south islands within two measly weeks back in January 2012.

Visited locations with red star on those covered in this blog entry

Rotten Eggs for Four Days - Laugevegur trail in Iceland

GR20 is a footpath that crosses the island of Corsica. It has been dubbed as the most challenging multi day hike in Europe. GR20 has secured its place high up on my bucket list of hikes. Back in 2015 me & group of my friends were eyeing keenly on the possibility to complete if not the full 15 day hike, but at least the reportedly more scenic northern half of the journey. This blog entry is NOT a narration of GR20. Instead of Corsica we went to Iceland!

Feeling Well in Tatras

One of the hidden mountaineering gems within Europe is the High Tatras in Slovakia. I was lead on this little secret during one particularly warm summer night in charming Budapest, Hungary of all the places. I was trading hiking experiences with a Slovakian colleague of mine and during late night spur of enthusiasm I committed to one day come over and witness the mountains myself. I am so glad I lived true to my word on to what turned out to be one of the most memorable mountain hikes ever.

Before, during and after ski

Allowing good ol' Isaac Newton to do all the work while sliding gently downhill from mountains with skiis is pretty much the exact opposite for hiking uphill with hurting knees. I recently visited the Alps for the first time ever during Winter and even if the lifts take me up the mountain and gravity takes me down, I have to admit that I was completely exhausted by evening time, so I would argue that also this trip warrants it's place in this hiking blog. 

Cave with no gold - Hiking in the isle of Skye in Scotland

Me & two of my mates were all expecting to have additional members joining our respective families around the same time in 2010. Given the upcoming miracle of triple birth, what would have been more appropriate than to arrange a pilgrimage to the famous distilleries on the Isle of Islay in Scotland. And to do some hiking on Isle of Skye while in the neighbourhood.

Bears with antlers - Karhunkierros-hike

All the way back in 2000 my then brand new hiking boots required to be broken in prior to putting them to a real test against Africa's highest mountain. Me & my travel companions decided to test a piece of Finland's most favourite hike, Karhunkierros, which was right around the neighbourhood -- at least when comparing to Tanzania.

Meeting with Twelve Gods - Summiting Mount Olympos in Greece

Ever wonder where lightnings are originated from? Apparently they are coming from the Stefani peak on Mount Olympus in Greece, where great old Zeus is hurling thunderbolts during yet another of his characteristics petty scenes of anger management failure. The whole mountain is literally infested with Gods and lesser deities. Pretty much each of the steep gorges, grottoes and 52 separate peaks is littered with one of the Olympiad or their siblings or offspring. Stefani peak is not the highest point on the Olympus however. The famous twelve Gods met and had their less civil moments of discussion on the peak called Mytikas (2917 m), which is also the highest point in Greece. Guess where I was headed to back in July of 2012.